Gnostic Gospels

The term gnostic gospels refers to gnostic collections of writings about the teachings of Jesus, written around the 2nd century AD. These gospels are not accepted by most mainstream Christians as part of the standard Biblical canon. Rather, they are part of what is called the New Testament apocrypha. However, public interest has been spurred by recent novels and films which refer to them.cite web|url=http://www.4truth.net/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=hiKXLbPNLrF&b=784449&ct=1201303 | title=Gospel of Thomas debate|accessdate=2007-04-22|author=Elaine Pagels and Michael Licona |publisher=Pax TV] [cite web| url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhlintro.html |title=An Introduction to Gnosticism and The Nag Hammadi Library |publisher=The Gnostic Society |author=Lance S. Owens|accessdate=2007-04-22]

History

The gnostic gospels were named after the Greek word gnosis which means "knowledge" and is often used in Greek philosophy in a manner more consistent with the English "enlightenment". Gnostic philosophy and religious movements began in pre-Christian times. During this time, ideas from Greek Gnosticism intermingled with Early Christianity. The name "Christian gnostics" came to represent a segment of the Early Christian community who believed that salvation lay not in merely worshipping Christ, but in psychic or pneumatic souls learning to free themselves from the material world via the revelation. [cite web|url=http://www.gnosis.org/gnintro.htm | title=The Gnostic World View: A Brief Summary of Gnosticism|author=Stephan A. Hoeller|accessdate=2007-04-22|publisher=gnosis.org] According to this tradition, the answers to spiritual questions are to be found within not without. Furthermore, the gnostic path does not require the intermediation of a church for salvation. Some scholars, such as Edward Conze and Elaine Pagels, have suggested that gnosticism blends teachings like those attributed to Jesus Christ with teachings found in Eastern traditions.cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/pagels.html| title=Extract from "The Gnostic Gospels"|author=Elaine Pagels|publisher=pbs.org|accessdate=2007-04-22] The gnostic Gospels are predated by all canonical gospels.

Dating

: "See also" Gnosticism

The documents which comprise the collection of gnostic gospels were not discovered at a single time, but rather as a series of finds. The Nag Hammadi Library was discovered accidentally by two farmers in December 1945 and was named for the area in Egypt where it had been hidden for centuries.cite web|url=http://www.nag-hammadi.com/ |title=The Nag Hammadi Library|accessdate=2007-04-22 |author=nag-hammadi.com] Other documents included in what are now known as the gnostic gospels were found at different times and locations, such as the Gospel of Mary, which was recovered in 1896 as part of the Akhmim Codex and published in 1955. Some documents were duplicated in different finds, and for others, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, only one copy is currently known to exist.

There are differing schools of thought on the dating of the "original" versions of these gospels. Scholars with a focus on Christianity tend to date the gospels mentioned by Irenaeus to the 2nd century, and the gospels mentioned solely by Jerome to the 4th century. The traditional dating of the gospels derives primarily from this division. Other scholars with a deeper focus on pagan and Jewish literature of the period tend to date primarily based on the type of the work:
# Scholars like George Albert Wells would argue that there is a substantial body of literature about the "teachings of the savior" which were originally part of the Jewish wisdom movement. Gnostic gospels (like the Odes of Solomon) could then date as early as from 200-100 BCE. Dates this early would be rejected by most scholars if the text specifically mentions Jesus (rather than "The Savior") since they are incarnationist (or at least not mythicist) and believe that there were some teachings at the base.
# The Gospel of the Lord can be unquestionably dated to at or before Marcion and thus no later than the early 2nd century. G.R.S. Mead and others have argued that Marcion's gospel predates the canonical Luke and was in use in Pauline churches. [" His Gospel was presumably the collection of sayings in use among the Pauline churches of his day. Of course the patristic writers say that Marcion mutilated Luke's version; but it is almost impossible to believe that, if he did this, so keen a critic as Marcion should have retained certain verses which made against his strong anti-Judaistic views." G.R.S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten [http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/library/meadmarcion.htm] ]
# The "Gospel of Truth" ["But the followers of Valentinus, putting away all fear, bring forward their own compositions and boast that they have more Gospels than really exist. Indeed their audacity has gone so far that they entitle their recent composition the Gospel of Truth" Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses (3.11.9) [http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/fathers/ante-nic/irenaeus/03-ag-he.htm] ] and Pistis Sophia can be unquestionably dated to the early 2nd century as they were part of the original Valentinian school.Fact|date=May 2007
# Documents with a Sethian influence (like the Gospel of Judas, or outright Sethian like Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians can be dated substantially later than 40 and substantially earlier than 250; most scholars giving them a 2nd century date. [ [http://jdt.unl.edu/triadaft.htm Gnosticism and Platonism: The Platonizing Sethian texts from Nag Hammadi in their Relation to Later Platonic Literature] , John D Turner, ISBN 0-7914-1338-1.
* [http://www.unl.edu/classics/faculty/turner/lithist.html "Sethian Gnosticism: A Literary History,"] in Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism and Early Christianity, p55-86 ISBN 0913573167
* The National Geographic Society dates the gospel of Judas originally to mid 2nd century [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/timeline.html] and the copy we possess 220-340 [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/auth_dating.html] ] More conservative scholars using the traditional dating method would argue in these cases for the early 3rd century.
# Some gnostic gospels (for example Trimorphic Protennoia) make use of fully developed Neoplatonism and thus need to be dated after Plotinus in the 3rd century.Fact|date=May 2007

elected gospels

Though there are many documents that could be included among the gnostic gospels, the term most commonly refers to the following:

* Gospel of Mary (recovered in 1896) [cite web|url=http://www.maryofmagdala.com/Excerpts/excerpts.html |title=Excerpts from "Gospel of Mary of Magdala"|author=Karen L. King | publisher=maryofmagdala.com| accessdate=2007-04-22]
* Gospel of Thomas (versions found in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1898, and again in the Nag Hammadi Library) [cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3250046 |title=The Secret Gospel of Thomas|date=June 4, 2003|author=Elaine Pagels|publisher=NPR]
* Gospel of Truth (Nag Hammadi Library)
* Gospel of Philip (Nag Hammadi Library)
* Gospel of Judas (recovered via the antiquities black market in 1983, and then reconstructed in 2006) [cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0406_060406_judas.html |title= Lost Gospel Revealed; Says Jesus Asked Judas to Betray Him |accessdate=2007-04-22|publisher=National Geographic News|date=April 6, 2006|author=Stefan Lovgren] [cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8892042 |title=The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity|publisher=NPR|author=Elaine Pagels and Karen King|date=March 14, 2007]

References in popular culture

The gnostic gospels received widespread attention after they were referred to in the 2003 best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code",cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5422879 | title=The Truth at the Heart of 'The Da Vinci Code' | author=Elaine Pagels| publisher = NPR | date=May 22, 2006 | accessdate=2007-04-19] which uses them as part of its backstory. [Richard Abanes, "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code", 2004. ISBN 0-7369-1439-0] The novel's use of artistic license in describing the gospels stirred up considerable debate over the accuracy of its depiction. As a result of public interest triggered by the novel and film, numerous books and video documentaries about the gospels themselves were produced which resulted in the gnostic gospels becoming well-known in popular culture.

The 2008 novel, Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult, also makes several in-depth references to the gnostic gospels - and to the Gospel of Thomas in particular.

ee also

* Historical Jesus
* Docetism
* Robert M. Price
* Jesus Seminar

Notes